This is a site devoted to the coverage of and enjoyment of sports. It's what we're all here for.
There are debates. There are opinions. We bring you news and analysis from sporting events involving Pittsburgh's teams in a way that -- at least we hope -- keeps you coming back.
But we're dealing with an unprecedented shutdown right now, not only of the sporting world, but of life as a whole. And it affects us all differently.
It has affected no one more so than amateur athletes. At the NCAA level, players had their seasons end prematurely. And the Olympics have already been postponed.
Now, at least here in Pennsylvania, the winter sports that were still in season -- PIAA basketball playoffs -- and the spring sports have all been canceled.
That stinks.
The NCAA has extended eligibility for student-athletes whose sports were affected by the coronavirus shutdown. The IOC has pushed the Olympic games in Japan back a year.
But for high school seniors, there is no extra year of eligibility. For many, there won't be games that can be held next summer, instead. For most, that's it. They're done.
We cover three professional teams and one university. Even in the case of Pitt athletics, they're in the upper tier of athletes in their respective sports.
The news that the PIAA was canceling the spring sports season hit home for me. I thought back to my final high school games. At the time, I didn't know I would go on to compete at a higher level. I did, albeit at a very low level.
I recalled that feeling of emptiness I felt thinking I'd never compete -- I mean really compete -- in those sports again. And it hurt.
We cover athletes at the end -- the real end -- of their careers all the time. At some point somebody or your body tells you it's just not possible to compete any longer.
Often times, fans don't think about the human factor involved. It's never easy when you pour your heart and soul into something and then have it taken away.
But at least those athletes got as much out of their respective sports as they could. In this case, these kids had it taken away from them through no fault of their own.
So while it also stinks that we don't have live sports to watch and talk about right now, it could be worse. For those kids who just had their sporting careers taken away from them, it can feel like the end of the world.
Those of us who have lived through it know that's not the case. We came to realize that life goes on. There are worse things that will happen -- and are happening. The kids who had their seasons taken from them will realize that in time. But like everything else in these unprecedented days, it will take time.
For some, we'll get to write stories about them down the road. Maybe it will be at Pitt. Maybe they'll make it to the NHL, NFL or Major League Baseball. That's great. We look forward to it.
For the rest, we salute you.
NEW APP UPDATE
We put in a lot -- and I mean a lot -- of hours on the app this week, meaning my wife Dali and I, as well as the new developers. Pretty much took up three-quarters of our waking hours the past four days alone.
Which is a good thing. Because it means we're getting really close to the beta testing.
More than two dozen readers were generous enough to donate their services for that testing, and we've now got enough, so that invitation's respectfully closed. You'll be hearing from us at some point very soon.
If you haven't seen our home page for the app, here's the latest mockup, albeit with no promises this is how it'll actually turn out:
I'd be lying if I didn't share my excitement over this. Especially the past 24 hours. It's funny, but I've heard so many times about how we're 'fixing' or 'updating' our app. We aren't. This and the previous app will have exactly nothing in common. This thing is ... you'll see. -- DK
NEARLY 1,000 FOR FRONT LINE
Our program to give out free subscriptions to those serving on the coronavirus front lines has resulted in 928 good people claiming those. The accompanying stories have ranged from doctors to nurses to grocery workers to delivery drivers, and I'm barely scratching the surface. Once the app thing gets more settled, I probably ought to find a way to collect these in some form.
Thanks again to our man Michael H. in South Carolina for covering the costs, but thanks, above all, to everyone on that front line keeping us safe. -- DK
MILITARY DRIVE TO 1,500: 520
Another big week on this front, with 60 military subscriptions purchased on a combination of bulk and individual purchases.
Josh DeNinno, our friend at Moon Golf Club, is challenging our subscribers to step up with 1,500 veteran subscription purchases in 2020, commemorating his course's 15th anniversary. And in the eight weeks since he's done so, our count is at 520, including 30 bulk purchases.
We've obviously got a very long way to go, but there's been a great early reaction to our having reduced the cost of these to half-price, now $19.99 for the annual, as we've done with other gift subscriptions. On top of that, Moon Golf Club will match 30 each month.
Let's do this. Here's where.
Or, if you’re interested in making a bulk purchase, please email me directly: DK@DKPittsburghSports.com -- DK
MEETUP AT CYBER-MIKE'S!
We clearly can't do subscriber meetups in this environment, but Mike Sukitch at Mike's Beer Bar came up with the idea to have a bunch of us -- and readers -- hook up for cyber-based Happy Hours, and we'll have another one today at 5 p.m.
Hope you can join us. -- DK
BACK TO BUSINESS
• New paid subscribers for 2020 -- not including gifts, military, returning/renewing subscribers -- are at 124. We had 10 new paid subscribers over the past week.
• Our daily page views, averaged out over the past week, were 42,515. The goal with this figure is to average 100,000, but that's obviously not going to be remotely realistic for a while.
• Our most-hit original article of the past week was my ranking of the top 25 athletes in Pittsburgh history, at 9,704. The Steelers accounted for 72,724 page views, the Penguins 59,352, the Pirates 30,544 and Pitt 4,058.
• We're at 36,108 (+74) followers on Twitter, we're at 32,193 (+16) page likes on Facebook, we're at 13,969 (+67) followers on Instagram. These figures are just for our official company account on each platform, not for us as individuals.
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